The Encyclopedia Americana, International Edition 1995, 100th Anniversary Library Edition, volume 21 page 610 reports that the quill pen has come to us as man's principal writing instrument from 600 A.D. to 1830 A.D., some thirteen hundred years, yet to the present day the quill pen has basically remained unchanged as a writing instrument and likewise its disadvantages of requiring frequent recutting, sharpening or mending of its nib, and tempering it, still remain as obstacles to its present usage.
The metal nib dip pen became the successor to the quill pen by providing a durable nib. In the development of the dip pen, prior art shows initially a reservoir being provided by a stamped out hole on a nib located at the top of the nib's slit. These dip pens are able to store only the amount of ink the "hole-reservoir" is capable of supporting in dramatic suspension over the edges of the hole conforming to its shape. The ink supply is very limited allowing the pen person to write only a few words before needing to be re-dipped into the ink supply. To overcome this insufficient supply of ink to the nib prior art shows calligraphy dip pens utilizing clip-on or factory installed metal reservoirs fitted to the nib itself.
The disadvantage of the clip on reservoir is that it must be attached by hand. A finger adjustment is made by moving the clip up or down the nib to set the reservoir clip at the right spot on the nib. This governs the volume of ink flow through the nib and therefore determines the optimum use of ink to be drawn on the page. If the setting is not correct the pen user must reset the adjustment, but now with a messy ink nib on his hands. Other hand reservoirs assembled at the factory are attached on the top side of the nib and extend down over the nib's tip. This arrangement obstructs the view of the pen user from seeing the tip of the nib as the user seeks to make detailed, artistic, or calligraphic lines on the page or writing material. This is most frustrating to fine work and writing in general. Being made of metal these reservoirs are cumbersome to clean and difficult to keep from corroding.
In the prior art, one may also see dip pens that combine the reservoir and feed as one unit. In such cases the reservoir appears as a finned or serrated portion on the underside of the unit, which when dipped into the supply of ink collects ink on and between its fins. The feed appears as the solid upper part of the unit. It is positioned to lay tangent to the underside of the nib, and feeds ink to the nib from the reservoir's fins. The combined package of nib and reservoir-feed is pushed into the hollowed out cavity of the pen holder. In this configuration the nib and reservoir-feed unit are firmly bonded in a static relationship with the pen holder. The problem here is that because of the close tolerances in a static relationship the ink tends to clog and dry between the nib and the reservoir-feed. Since it is the nature of ink to dry rapidly the problem spreads to the fins of the reservoir. Eventually the system fails to supply a measured amount of ink to the nib. A major problem occurs when disassembly is attempted for maintenance. It is not unusual to discover the parts frozen together by dried ink.
Added to these problems is the inability of the dip pen to make any adjustment to increase or decrease the volume of ink flowing through the slit in the nib onto the writing surface. This requires the use of a variety of nibs, i.e. fine, medium, bold etc., to accommodate the various writing or drawing requirements of the pen user. Further, messy ink spills will likely occur if these nibs are changed while the pen is in use.
Still other dip pens use wicks or reservoirs and feeds of various types with complex apparatus under the nib each attached to the pen holder in prior art customary static configurations. Such static configurations preclude the appearance of a multifunctional dip pen. This omission is a serious limitation to developing the versatility of the dip pen and to eliminating many of its shortcomings.
Furthermore, the feather for years has not been seriously included in the dip pen's configuration. The absence of the feather as a dip pen has kept the historical influence of a powerful living symbol from the hands of a teacher. This is the loss of a significant motivating teaching tool. A tool that could be used to inspire young children in character development during their formative years of education.
The common experience when writing with prior art dip pens which utilize statically configured systems is that one must make a choice, to use dip pens in spite of their problems or to abandon the dip pen and go to the fountain pen, or ball point pen. There remains the need for an alternative choice. The present invention offers that alternative as disclosed in the summary of the invention.